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The Storyline
The Harvard women's lacrosse team is seeking its second straight win as it hosts Stanford Wednesday, March 28 at 4 p.m. in Harvard Stadium. The Crimson is 2-2 all-time against the Cardinal, despite dropping an 18-17 affair last season at Stanford.

A live video stream and live stats will be available during Wednesday's contest through GoCrimson.com.

Last Time Out
The Crimson picked up its second straight win over Yale on Saturday with a 7-5 victory in New Haven, Conn. Harvard scored all seven of its goals in the first half and went into the intermission on top, 7-0.

Melanie Baskind and Micaela Cyr led Harvard on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field as each tallied two goals and two ground balls. Jennifer VanderMeulen recorded one goal, one assist and one draw control while Mariel Jenkins registered a game-high three ground balls. Kelly Weis made seven saves in goal to pick up the victory. Harvard's five goals allowed were the fewest since allowing just three goals in a 19-3 win over the Bulldogs last season.

Harvard owned an 8-6 advantage in draw controls and was successful on 12-of-17 clear attempts. Yale, however, outshot the Crimson 25-21 and went 11-of-12 in clears.

Scouting the Cardinal Stanford fell to 2-5 on the year after suffering a 14-9 loss at Brown on Sunday. The Cardinal opened the season with three straight losses and has gone 2-2 in its last four games.

Emilie (15g, 12a) and Anna Boeri (14g, 4a) lead the Stanford attack with 27 points and 18 points, respectively. Caroline Bradley has collected a team-high 14 ground balls while Catherine Swanson has notched 21 draw controls and 12 ground balls. Lyndsey Munoz has played every minute in goal for the Cardinal, posting a 2-5 overall record with a 14.86 goals against average and a .339 save percentage.

Harvard is 2-2 all-time against Stanford and Wednesday's contest will mark the second straight year the teams have played. The Crimson opened the series with a pair of wins over the Cardinal, but Stanford has won the last two meetings, including an 18-17 affair last season. Danielle Tetreault scored a game-high six goals in the loss while Kerry Clark came away with nine saves in goal.

Ivy League Honors
Freshman Kelly Weis was named the Ivy League's Defensive Player of the Week on March 26, marking the second time this season the award has gone to the Crimson. Weis totaled 15 saves while allowing just 12 goals in a 1-1 week for Harvard. She tallied eight saves in the team's 7-5 loss to Boston College on Wednesday before making seven stops in a 7-5 win at Yale. Harvard's five goals allowed against the Bulldogs were the fewest for the team since its 19-3 win over Yale last year.

Melanie Baskind was named defensive player of the week on Feb. 27 after scoring three goals and collecting five ground balls in the team's season opening 11-9 win over Boston University. Baskind was the first Crimson to earn the award since Kathryn Tylander ?08 took home the honor on March 4, 2008.

Former Crimson Named Finalists for National Lacrosse Hall of Fame
Harvard alumnae Sarah (Downing) Nelson '94 and Maggie Vaughan '90 are among the 12 finalists on the 2012 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame women's ballot. Vaughan helped Harvard to the program's first NCAA Championship in 1990 and was a four-time Ivy League champion, while Nelson was a two-time Ivy League champion and a three-time All-Ivy honoree. Click here to read the full story.

Getting Defensive Harvard has held five of its seven opponents to under 10 goals this season, including four of its last five. The Crimson ranks 13th in the NCAA having allowed just 9.0 goals per game, which would stand as the team's lowest goals against average since 2008 (the last year complete stats are available).

Nail Biters Harvard's last five games have been decided by a total of seven goals, with three of those games being decided by a one-goal margin. The Crimson has played in 15 one-goal games under head coach Lisa Miller and sports a 7-8 record.

Overtime Thrillers The Crimson went to overtime against both No. 13 James Madison and No. 9/10 Penn, marking the first time in program history that Harvard has played in back-to-back overtime games. Harvard is 5-5 all-time in overtime games and has never gone to overtime more than twice in a season.

Between the Pipes
Freshman Kelly Weis has made all seven starts in goal for the Crimson this season, and ranks 15th in the NCAA with an 8.55 goals against average. Her .466 save percentage is 24th-best in the country while her 8.0 saves per game is good for 37th.

Weis made 10 saves while helping the Crimson to a 9-8 double-overtime victory over No. 13 James Madison on March 6, matching Kerry Clark's total of 10 saves against Virginia last season for the most stops by a Harvard goalie since Katherine Martino '10 recorded 12 in a 17-9 win over Boston College on May 5, 2010. Weis has made at least eight saves in four games this season.

Sharing the Wealth
Nine different Crimson have scored a goal in 2012 with seven having scored at least four. Melanie Baskind leads the way with 12 goals, while Micaela Cyr and Danielle Tetreault have found the back of the net 11 times. Jennifer VanderMeulen boasts seven goals with Jess Halpern having recorded six.

Two Way Players
Midfielders Melanie Baskind, Micaela Cyr and Danielle Tetreault have led the Crimson on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field in 2012. Tetreault (11g, 4a) has recorded a team-high 15 points while Baskind (12g, 1a) and Cyr (11g) rank second and third with 13 points and 11 points, respectively. Baskind's 16 ground balls are tops on the team with Cyr's 12 placing her second, while Tetreault has won a team-high 15 draw controls. Cyr also leads the Crimson with five caused turnovers.

National Prominence
Harvard has bounced around the national rankings this season, coming in as high as No. 15 in the Preseason DeBeer Media Poll. The Crimson spent a total of three weeks in the media poll, and has received voted in four of the seven IWLCA Coaches Polls.

Week of March 26
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Feb. 20
Preseason

deBeer Women's Media Poll --
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Hat Trick Heroes Harvard has notched seven hat tricks this season with Melanie Baskind and Micaela Cyr leading the way with two apiece. Jess Halpern and Jennifer VanderMeulen, meanwhile, lead all active Crimson with 23 career hat tricks.

To Be the Best, You Have to Beat the Best
Harvard has knocked off a top 20 opponent in each of the last four seasons, with James Madison, then ranked 13th in the IWLCA Coaches Poll, becoming its latest victim via a 9-8 double-overtime triumph on March 6. The Crimson will have plenty more opportunities to knock off one of the premier teams in the nation this season, as 10 of the team's opponents have been ranked in either the deBeer Media Poll or the IWLCA Preseason Coaches Poll including Boston College, Cornell, Dartmouth, James Madison, John's Hopkins, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, Syracuse, and Virginia.

Climbing the Charts
Senior Jess Halpern and junior Jennifer VanderMeulen currently rank among Harvard's all-time top 10 goal scorers. Halpern has netted 117 career goals, good for seventh in program history, while her 139 points place her ninth in the school record books. VanderMeulen, meanwhile, ranks eighth with 111 goals in just 38 games and boasts 127 points. Her 56 goals scored in 2010 rank fifth on the Crimson's single-season list.

In the News Harvard was featured by Lacrosse Magazine's Clare Lochary on March 14 in her column, 'Surprise Upsets Continue in WD1.' Lochary broke down the Crimson's double-overtime win over No. 13 James Madison and detailed its importance to the Crimson's development under head coach Lisa Miller. Click here to read the full column.

Catch the Crimson in 2012
Harvard has announced that 11 home men's and women's lacrosse games will be streamed online from Harvard Stadium during the 2012 season, marking the third straight year fans of Harvard lacrosse will have the opportunity to watch the Crimson live from home.

A total of six women's games will be available to watch, beginning with the Crimson's March 21 showdown with Boston College, its first inside Harvard Stadium. Each home contest for the remainder of the year will be streamed.

A full season pass for either the men's or women's team will be available for just $29.95, while single games can be purchased for $9.95. Click here to sign up for your season pass today.

Tewaaraton Award Watch List
Junior's Jennifer VanderMeulen and Danielle Tetreault were named to the 2012 Tewaaraton Award Watch List, which is comprised of the top 50 women's lacrosse student-athletes from all three divisions of collegiate lacrosse. VanderMeulen and Tetreault are the latest Crimson to be put up for the prestigious award, after current teammates Jess Halpern and Micaela Cyr were nominated in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

VanderMeulen is coming off a season in which she was named to the Synapse Sports All-America second team, IWLCA All-Region first team and All-Ivy League first team after ranking 18th in the NCAA in goals per game (3.0) and 30th in goals (48). She currently ranks 10th in program history with 104 career goals, while her 56 scores in 2010 rank fifth on Harvard's single-season list.

Tetreault was a first team all-region and second team all-Ivy selection a year ago, and ranked 31st in the nation with 2.63 goals per game. Tetreault boasts 62 career goals, 17 assists and 79 points in 31 career games.

Captaining the Ship
Seniors Melanie Baskind, Ellen Gleason and Tyler Petropulos were voted by their teammates as captains for the 2012 season. Baskind and Petropulos also served as captains last season, making them just the sixth and seventh student-athletes in program history to be voted captain in consecutive seasons. Carroll Clark '92 was the first to do so when she captained both the 1991 and 1992 squads, and was followed by Daphne Clark '97 (1996 & 1997), Ali Harper '01 (2000 & 2001), Lauren Bobzin '08 (2007 & 2008) and Sara Flood '10 (2009 & 2010). This is just the sixth time in program history three Crimson had been chosen to lead the team.

Two-Sport Star Baskind Featured by New England Lacrosse Journal
Senior Melanie Baskind, who captains both the women's lacrosse and women's soccer teams and is an All-Ivy League honoree in both sports, was recently featured by Sammi Gorman of the New England Lacrosse Journal.

"In the city of Boston - a breeding ground for both star athletes and top students at some of the world's best academic institutions - Melanie Baskind is different.

"She's not the only student with a 3.8 grade-point average as a neurobiology major at a top school like Harvard, and she's not the only athlete to get league Player of the Year honors in her sport. She is the only one to do those things and be a threat to earn those kind of honors in two sports."

Historical Perspective
Harvard captured the program's first national championship in 1990 when it defeated Maryland, 8-7. The Crimson won four games that season by a single goal en route to a 15-0 record, with Jenny Walser '90 scoring the game winner in three of those four games, including the national title contest. Julia French '90, Charlotte Joslin '90 and Maggie Vaughan '90 were named first team All-America following the season while Susan Carls '91 and Karen Everling '90 were named to the second team. Four-year letterwinners Everling, French and Walser graduated with a career record of 50-8-1, including a perfect 23-0 mark in the Ivy League.

The Crimson has made a total of nine NCAA Tournament appearances and has reached the national championship game three times. Harvard has also won 11 Ivy League Championships, tied with Dartmouth for the most in conference history.